Wire form



y 14, 1964 A. e. PFUND ETAL 7 WIRE FORM Filed July 6. 1961 2Sheets-Sheet 1 FlG.l

FIG. 7

INVENTOR. ADOLF G. PFUND EDWARD H. MAYER Mum ATTORNEY July 14, 1964 A.G. PFUND ETAL WIRE FORM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 6. 1961 INVENTOR.

ADOLF G. PFUND By EDWARD H. MAYER H. Sm

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,140,927 WIRE FORM Adolf G. Pfund,Milford, N.J., and Edward H. Mayer,

Bethlehem, Pa, assignors, by mesne assignments, to

Bethlehem Steel Company, Bethlehem, Pa., a corporation of PennsylvaniaFiled July 6, 1961, Ser. No. 122,331 2 Claims. (Cl. 29-493) Thisinvention relates broadly to a bent wire spacer having a novelconfiguration specifically adapted for use as a spacer for coils ofstrip steel during heat treatment.

One of the major changes in the steel industry is in annealing processeswherein coils of sheet steel are annealed in a special atmosphere. Inorder to obtain the desired result, the various layers in a coil ofsheet steel must be in contact with the special atmosphere. Thus, aspacer must be provided so as to maintain the various layers of a coilspaced from one another. One prior art solution to this problem was theuse of nylon cord wound between the layers of the coil. After the coilwas wound and secured, the cord was removed to provide free access ofgas throughout the coil. However, often the layers would shift positionand contact other layers resulting in uneven contact with the gas.Lighter gage coils would also warp during heating and cooling andadjacent layers would touch. Another difiiculty occurred when rewindingthe loose coils after treatment, as back tension is necessary to rewind,and back tension causes slipping of the layers against each other withconsequent scratching and gouging of the sheet surface. Severelydistorted portions of the coil also tend to develop coil breaks duringthe rewinding operation.

The present invention is a sinusoidally shaped WlIG' which is bent alongits longitudinal axis intermediate the loops of the sinusoidal shape sothat the wire is \I-shaped to transverse cross-section. In this manner,the Wire product of the present invention has sufficient strength so asto maintain the various layers of the coil spaced from one another andyet provides only point contact. Thus, substantially the entire surfaceof each layer of a coil will be exposed to the special atmosphere duringthe annealing process.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel wire spacer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the novelarticle of manufacture in the form of a sinusoidally shaped wire bentlongitudinally so as to be V-shaped in transverse cross-section.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a wire forspaced coils of steel strip for heat treating with surface contact ofgases, said wire having a configuration providing a combination of leastcontact with the layers of the coil and high structural strength.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wire spacerhaving the above characteristics which can be manufactured so cheaplythat it can be destroyed or discarded after each use.

It has been discovered that the foregoing objects can best be achievedby continuously bending a very fine gauge wire, for example .018diameter wire, of high strength, for example, a wire having a tensilestrength of 300,000 p.s.i., first in an approximately zig-zag shape inone plane, and then further bending this shape longitudinally at anangle to said plane at approximately the center of the shape to providea series of integrally connected substantially. V-shaped loops extendingalternately in two common angularly disposed planes; and the legs ofeach loop forming apexes with the legs of adjacent loops. The loops arepreferably disposed at such an angle that the bent wire, when placed ina coil, will contact the surfaces of the layers of the coil in a seriesof points 3,140,927 Patented July 14, 1964 is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a schematic elevational view of the apparatus for making thepresent invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the mechanism for sinusoidallyshaping the wire.

FIGURE 3 is a view of the sinusoidally shaped wire taken along lines 33in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines 44 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of a coil of sheet steel disclosing themanner in which the wire spacer of the present invention is used.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along lines 6-6 in FIGURE5.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along lines 7-7 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along lines 8-8 in FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate likeelements, there is shown in FIGURE 1 the wire shaping apparatus 10 ofthe present invention.

The wire shaping apparatus 10 comprises a spool 12 of wire 14 rotatablymounted on a standard 16. A wire 14 is uniform in cross-section, and ispreferably circular in transverse cross-section. The wire 14 extendsfrom the spool 12 beneath a pivotably mounted tension roller 18. Theroller 18 is rotatably mounted on a pivotable arm 20. The arm 20 ispivotably mounted at a pin 22 on a frame 24. A spring 26 has one endconnected to the arm 26 and another end connected to the frame 24. Thespring 26 tends to pivot the arm 20 in a clockwise direction in FIGURE 1so as to maintain the wire 14 taut.

The wire 14 extends from the roller 18 around the guide roller 28. Theguide roller 28 is rotatably mounted on a bracket which is fixedlysecured to the frame 24. From the guide roller 28, the wire 14 extendsbetween a pair of drive rollers 30 and 32. The drive rollers 30 and 32are rotatably mounted on a bracket which is fixed to the frame 24. Amotor 33 is provided for driving the rollers 30 and 32. The driverollers 30 and 32 provide the means for unwinding the wire 14 from thespool 12 and feeding the same to the mechanisms to be describedhereinafter.

From the drive rollers 30 and 32, the Wire 14 is fed beneath a guideroller 34 and around a control roller 36.

The control roller 36 is rotatably mounted on a shaft which isreciprocally mounted within a slot 38 on a bracket 40. The bracket 46 isfixedly secured to the frame 24. The roller 36 is biased to the positionshown in FIGURE 1 by means of a spring (not shown). In the position ofthe roller shown in FIGURE 1, said roller operates a mioroswitch 42which is capable of stopping the mechanisms of the apparatus 10 of thepresent invention. The roller 36 is biased by the tension of the Wire 14against the action of the spring thereby preventing the roller 36 and50. The gears 48 and 50 have an OD. of 1.140 inches and an ID. of .765inch. Each gear has eighteen teeth which are .05 inch wide. As shownmore clearly in FIGURE 2, the meshed gears 48 and 50 shape the wire 14thereby providing a sinusoidally shaped wire 14. The gears 48 and 50 aredriven by a motor 52 which is connected to the microswitch 42. A supplyof coolant 54 is fixedly secured to the frame 24 with a nozzle extendingtoward the meshed gears 48 and 50.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 2, the sinusoidally shaped wire 14 liesin a plane which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the gears48 and 50. Therefore, the sinusoidally shaped wire 14 extends through afixed guide 56 which rotates the sinusoidally shaped wire 14' so that itlies in a horizontal plane parallel to the longitudinal axes of thegears 48 and 50.

The sinusoidally shaped wire 14' extends from the guide 56 over arotatably mounted guide roller 58.

The shape of the wire 14' is shown more clearly in FIGURE 3. As shown inFIGURE 3, the wire 14 is sinusoidally shaped so as to have spaced peaks6t), 62, and 64 on alternate sides of the longitudinal axis 66.

From the guide roller 58, the wire 14' extends downwardly around areciprocable tension roller 68. "the roller 68 is rotatably mounted on ashaft reciprooably mounted within a slot 72 on a fixed bracket 70. Avariety of means for maintaining tension in the wire 14 capable of beingsubstituted for the roller 68 will suggest them selves to those skilledin the art. For example, the wire 14' may extend through an annularweight.

From the roller 68, the wire 14' extends over a rotatably mounted guideroller 74 and then through a fixed guide 76. From the fixed guide 76,the wire 14' extends between a pair of rotatably mounted mating dieswhich bend the sinusoidally shaped wire 14' along its longitudinal axis66 thereby providing a sinsuoidally shaped wire 14" which is V-shaped intransverse cross-section.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 4, the mating dies for bending the wire14' include a pair of roller dies 7 8 and 80. The roller die 78 isfixedly secured to a rotatably mounted shaft 82. The roller die 78 isprovided with a V-shaped outer peripheral surface with the apex 84 beingthe point of largest diameter on said roller die 78.

The roller die 80 is fixedly secured to a rotatably mounted shaft 86.The roller die 80 is provided with a V-shaped outer peripheral surfacewith the apex 88 being the point of smallest diameter on said roller die80. As shown more clearly in FIGURE 4, the roller dies 78 and 80 aredisposed one above the other with the apexes 84 and 88 juxtaposed andspaced from one another by a distance substantially equal to thediameter of the wire 14. As the wire 14' passes between the dies 78 and80, it is bent along its longitudinal axis 66 thereby providing asinusoidally shaped wire 14" which is V-shaped in transversecross-section.

The shafts 82 and 86 are rotatably driven by a motor 90. A nozzle 92 isdisposed adjacent the wire 14' between the fixed guide 76 and the rollerdies 78 and 80. The nozzle 92 is connected to a supply tank 94 ofcleaning solvent. Cleaning solvent from the tank 94 is continuouslydripped onto the wire 14' by the nozzle 92 just before the wire 14passes between the roller dies 78 and 80.

From the roller dies 78 and 80, the wire 14" passes through a fixedguide 96 and over a roller guide 98. From the roller guide 98, the wire14" passes through an aperture in a traversing guide 100. The traversingguide 100 reciprocates in a direction substantially perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the wire 14" thereby distributing the wire 14"across the full width of the wind-up spool 102. The spool 102 isrotatably mounted on a standard 104 and rotatably driven by a motor 106.The motor 106 also operates the traversing mechanism 108 which operatesthe traversing guide 100.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 7, the sinusoidally shaped wire 14' liesin a single plane. As shown more clearly in FIGURE 8, the sinusoidallyshaped wire 14" is V-shaped in transverse cross-section with the apex ofthe V lying along the longitudinal axis 66. As a result of theillustration in FIGURE 8, it should be obvious that all the loops on oneside of the longitudinal axis 66 lie in one plane. Also, all of theloops on the opposite side of the longitudinal axis 66 lie in a secondplane which intersects said one plane.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the spaced peakscould extend upwardly or downwardly from the apex of the V-shaped bendof the wire 14". The included angle of the V-shaped bend is preferablygreater than 60 degrees so that the distance between peaks of opposedloops will be greater than the length of the longest loop. This willinsure that the wire will contact the coil with its apex and peaksrather than with the side of a leg of said wire. It has been found thatan angle in the range of from 65 degrees to degrees, as indicated inFIGURE 8, gives optimum performance. As the included angle of the Vincreases beyond 85 degrees, there is a tendency for the wire 14 toflatten and thereby decrease the space between layers of the coil ofsheet steel. The angular and distance relationships recited above enablethe wire 14" to have sufficient strength to maintain the layers of thecoil of the sheet steel spacer from each other and yet only have pointcontact therewith.

The wire 14" of the present invention is made in the following manner:

Assume that the wire 14 has been fed through the mechanism as shown inFIGURE 1, and that spool 12 contains a full supply of wire 14. Also,assume that spool 102 is empty and that the free end of the wire hasbeen secured thereto. A switch for operating the various motors isturned to an on position. The drive rollers 30 and 32 unwind the wire 14from the spool 12 and feed the wire to the meshed gears 48 and 50 whichsinusoidally shape the wire 14. At the same time, the windup spool 102is being rotated by the motor 106 thereby winding up the sinusoidallyshaped wire 14".

The apparatus 10 continues to operate in the above manner until thespool 12 is empty. As the free end of the wire 14 approaches the controlroller 36, the lack of tension enables the spring (not shown) to movethe tension roller 36 to the position shown in FIGURE 1 therebyactuating the microswitch 42. Actuation of the microswitch 42 stops themotors 33 and 52 of the apparatus 10 thereby calling attention to anoperator that a new spool must be substituted for the empty spool 12.

It will be noted that the motors and 106 are separate from the motors 33and 52. Accordingly, actuation of the microswitch 42 does not affect themotors 90 and 106 which continue to operate. Actuation of themicroswitch 42 preferably operates an audible signal so that an operatorwill stop the motors 90 and 106 as the free end of the wire 14"approaches the spool 102.

A new spool is substituted for the empty spool 12 and the wire 14 is fedthrough the mechanism in the manner shown in FIGURE 1. It should benoted that the spool 102 is not a full spool because the wire 14" issubstantially shorter than the length of the wire 14 on the spool 12.Therefore, the free ends of the wires are secured in any convenientmanner. Then, the apparatus 10 is operated in the manner set forthabove.

Thus, it will be seen that the apparatus 10 operates continuouslywithout the attention of an operator until a spool 12 is empty or aspool 102 is full. The fact that the spool 12 is full is readilyascertainable. In that event, the apparatus 10 is stopped and asubstitute spool 102 is provided.

The product of the apparatus 10 is the sinusoidally shaped wire 14"which is V-shaped in transverse crosssection. The wire 14 can be used inthe following manner:

As shown more clearly in FIGURES 5 and 6, a strip 110 of steel is woundin a coil before the steel is annealed. The longitudinal axis 66 of thewire 14" is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the strip 110. Thewire 14 is placed on top of the strip 110 prior to the coiling of thestrip 110. In this manner, the Wire 14" will maintain the various layersof the coil spaced from one another as shown more clearly in FIGURES 5and 6.

Since the wire 14" is sinusoidally shaped and V-shaped in cross-section,and the distance between the peaks of the V-being greater than thelength of the longest leg of the V, the wire 14" will only make pointcontact with the various layers of the coil of sheet steel. Thus,substantially the entire surface of each layer of the coil will be incontact with the special atmosphere during the annealing process. Thesinusoidal and V-shape of the wire 14" enables the wire 14" to havesuflicient strength so as to maintain the various layers of the coilspaced from one another.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No.87,049, filed January 4, 1961, in the name of Aldof G. Pfund, andentitled Wire Shaping Apparatus.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, ratherthan to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a sinusoidally shaped wirespacer having a series of rounded loops integrally connected by legs,the legs of each loop cooperating with the legs of adjacent loops toform a V-shaped bend, and the included angle of said bend being greaterthan and less than 90 so that the spacer may maintain two elementsspaced apart while having point contact therewith.

2. An article of manufacture in accordance with claim 1 wherein all ofthe loops on one side of the longitudinal axis of said spacer lie in oneplane, all of the loops on the opposite side of the longitudinal axislying in a second plane, and the included angle between said planesbeing and References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,074,214 Schuler Sept. 30, 1913 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,822 GreatBritain Feb. 15, 1911

1. AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE COMPRISING A SINUSOIDALLY SHAPED WIRESPACER HAVING A SERIES OF ROUNDED LOOPS INTEGRALLY CONNECTED BY LEGS,THE LEGS OF EACH LOOP COOPERATING WITH THE LEGS OF ADJACENT LOOPS TOFORM A V-SHAPED BEND, AND THE INCLUDED ANGLE OF SAID BEND BEING GREATERTHAN 60* AND LESS THAN 90* SO THAT THE SPACER MAY MAINTAIN TWO ELEMENTSSPACED APART WHILE HAVING POINT CONTACT THEREWITH.